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Four candidates file for school board

by Richard Hanners Whitefish Pilot
| April 20, 2011 9:24 AM

Four candidates have filed for the

three positions on the Whitefish School Board up for re-election

this spring.

The deadline for filing was March 24.

Voting will take place at the school district offices in the

basement of the middle school on Tuesday, May 3. Voter registration

ended April 3.

David Fern is seeking his seventh term

on the board, while Eric Hosek and Brian McDowell chose not to run

again. Three candidates seeking election are Tagen Vine, Shawn

Watts and Heather Vrentas.

Tagen Vine

Tagen Vine has lived in the Flathead

since 1997 and in Whitefish since 2005. He worked for the Boy

Scouts in Chicago and in the Flathead from 1994 to 2005 and now

works for the Kalispell Regional Medical Center Foundation.

Vine has a bachelor of science degree

from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s in business

administration from Colorado Tech. He is married and has three

girls, ages 2, 4 and 7.

He said he chose to run for the school

board not only because his children will attend school here but

because he believes schools are a “critical component” in the

community. He points out that he has no specific ideas in mind and

wants to serve the people of Whitefish.

Regarding declining student enrollment

in Whitefish, Vine thinks some of that is due to parents leaving to

find work. As for high school students who choose to attend Glacier

High School, he points out that Kalispell schools are also facing

budget problems, and Whitefish is doing a good job of providing

AP-level classes and 21st Century learning programs.

“I got my MBA primarily online,” he

said. “It was a great experience. I can see the pros and cons of

virtual learning.”

Vine says his background in finance

will help him understand school district budget issues that could

include layoffs.

“I won’t come in with strong opinions

on what to do,” he said. “My philosophy about education and life in

general will hopefully guide me to make the right decisions.”

While recognizing the current economic

downturn, Vine notes that now might be a good time to do something

about improving the high school facility because labor and material

costs are lower. Philanthropy could also play a role, he

suggested.

“I hope the generous people of

Whitefish can see the critical role of the school,” he said. “I’m

not sure the current high school can carry our kids through 21st

Century learning programs.”

Vine recognizes that an open campus

provides “opportunities for kids to find trouble,” but he said he

hadn’t made up his mind about the issue. In any event, a cafeteria

needs to be built before the campus can be closed, he noted.

 

Shawn Watts

Shawn Watts grew up in Minnesota and

Nebraska and moved to Whitefish about 14 years ago. He has a

bachelor’s in religious studies from Georgetown University and a

master’s in religious studies from the University of Chicago.

After moving here, he worked for about

nine years at Plum Creek’s information technology department. For

the past five or six years, he’s worked in the company’s real

estate department as a senior program manager.

Watts says he wants to play a more

active role in the community. He got involved in Speak Up Whitefish

in 2008, a group that was providing direction to the school

district on facilities and curriculum.

Married with two boys and one girl,

ages 11, 13 and 17, Watts agrees with conventional wisdom that

“children are our future” and says being on the school board

provides an opportunity to effect change in the school system.

The draw of Glacier High School is

programs offered there but not here, he noted, but “there are

opportunities to grow the same programs here and stem the migration

to Kalispell.”

Economic conditions are the primary

driver behind budget difficulties and potential layoffs, Watts

said. The school district needs to be “right-sized,” which has

implications for staffing, the biggest part of the budget.

Partnership and collaboration could provide a way to augment state

funding, he suggested.

“We need to come up with new ways to

engage the community,” he said.

Watts says he supports the idea that

facilities help education, and the current high school doesn’t do

that.

“But a new high school is not a silver

bullet,” he said. “It’s part of the many components that make up a

quality education. We also need to operate under economic

realities.”

He points out that the new middle

school building was built to accommodate 21st Century learning.

“We need to make the case to the public

that a new high school will help education,” he said.

Watts said he favors an open campus,

while recognizing the trouble students can get into. But part of

the mission in education is to see that children learn how to stay

out of trouble.

“Locking the doors is not the way to do

that,” he said.

 

Heather Vrentas

Heather Vrentas has lived in Whitefish

18 years. She grew up in New York and got a bachelor’s in

architectural history and anthropology at Connecticut College.

She’s married and has nine-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, in

Muldown Elementary School.

Vrentas has worked as the general

manager of Montana Coffee Traders for 13 years. She served on the

Montessori school board for three years and served as a community

representative on the Whitefish School District’s Speak Up

Whitefish committee in 2008.

As a parent and business leader, she

says she wants to invest her time and energy “to improve a key part

of our community and to help make our kids global and civic

participants.” Vrentas recognizes the loss of students to other

school districts and wants to stem that flow.